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WPP's group chief executive, Sir Martin Sorrell, earned twice as

much as his nearest rival among UK publicly quoted marketing services

groups last year, according to a survey published in the Marketing

Services Financial Intelligence newsletter.

Sorrell's £2.5 million package was double that of Michael Bungey,

the chief executive of Cordiant Communications Group, and was 53 per

cent higher than what he earned in the previous year. Sorrell's bonus

was £1.3 million, or 152 per cent of his basic salary.

"Sir Martin may argue that his basic salary has been held down to allow

a bigger portion of his package to be dependent on company performance,"

the editor of the newsletter, Bob Willott, said. "However, it will

inevitably start an unfortunate trend unless directors of poorer

performing companies are prepared to forego some of their basic

salary."

However, Sorrell's package compares with the packages earned by his US

counterparts. John Dooner earned $2.8 million at the Interpublic

Group and he also picked up some long-term awards, while John Wren made

$3.1 million at Omnicom Group. Peter Mead, now Omnicom's

vice-chairman, picked up almost $3 million.

The survey found that profit-sharing bonuses for the top seven bosses

equated to 85 per cent of their aggregate basic salaries. Bonuses for

Bungey and David Wright, Incepta's chief executive, equalled their basic

salaries, whereas Chime Communications' chairman, Lord Bell, was content

with a bonus equal to just 15 per cent of his basic salary. However,

this was supplemented by a company pension contribution of £113,413 and dividends from his shareholding in the group.

Company pension contributions accounted for 13 per cent of the

directors' total reward packages. However, Aegis Group's chief

executive, Doug Flynn, enjoyed a £250,000 pension contribution on

top of his basic £505,000 salary and £200,000 bonus,

elevating him to third place in the rankings.

Very few new share options were awarded to the top directors during the

year - presumably because they have accumulated substantial

shareholdings in the past. The exception was Flynn.

Poorest paid of the bunch was Huntsworth's chief executive, Lord

Chadlington (formerly the Shandwick founder, Peter Gummer). He took over

the job of revitalising the group after its former chairman, John

Holmes, was ousted last August. Part of the deal was that the new

management would not draw remuneration in 2000.

WHAT THE PUBLIC COMPANY BOSSES EARNED IN 2000

Rnk Highest paid Company Basic Prof-sharing % of

director Salary Bonus 1 Basic

(pounds (pounds

000) 000)

1 Sir Martin Sorrell WPP Group 854 1,302 152%

2 Michael Bungey 2 Cordiant Comms 582 581 99%

Group

3 Doug Flynn Aegis Group 505 200 40%

4 Lord Bell Chime 557 84 15%

Communications

5 Chris Ingram Tempus Group 346 219 63%

6 David Wright Incepta Group 300 300 100%

7 Lord Chadlington Huntsworth 3 Nil Nil Nil

Total 3,144 2,686 85%

Rnk Highest paid Company Other Pension Total

director (pounds cont'n (pounds

000) (pounds000) 000)

1 Sir Martin Sorrell WPP Group 24 340 2,520

2 Michael Bungey 2 Cordiant Comms 86 40 1,289

Group

3 Doug Flynn Aegis Group 20 250 975

4 Lord Bell Chime 44 113 798

Communications

5 Chris Ingram Tempus Group 1 92 658

6 David Wright Incepta Group 3 30 633

7 Lord Chadlington Huntsworth 3 Nil Nil Nil

Total 178 865 6,873

Notes: 1 Excludes dividends on shareholdings. 2 Bonus includes long-term

incentive award. 3 Succeeded John Holmes on nil package for 2000.

Source: Marketing Services Financial Intelligence (www.fintellect.com)